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DIRECTED BY: Steve Balderson
FEATURING: Fake AI actors
PLOT: An employee of the futuristic Malos megacorporation submits himself to a mandatory scanning of his deepest and most profound memories.
COMMENTS: Made a few months prior to the release of Zeb Haradon‘s Incorporeal Man (2025), Brainstare was another attempt at creating a human- written script exclusively using AI technology. While Incorporeal Man reveled in the unnaturalism of the final product, seeking a so-bad-is-weird cult status, Brainstare is determined to go for a more “decent” look and production quality. Some serious problems, though—especially in terms of pacing—make it an even more challenging viewing experience.
Brainstare is divided into two acts, chamber dramas played in two different interior locations. The plot, set in a dystopian future, follows Anthony, an empolyee of the Malos Corporation, who has to submit himself to a scanning of his deepest memories or risk being fired and ostracized. The first act—with an exhausting duration of about one hour and twenty minutes—observes our protagonist in his home with his partner and colleague Sheba, as she tries to persuade him to proceed with the necessary tests. Their conversation develops gradually into the portrait of a one-sided relationship where Sheba seems to play the role of a reward for an obedient worker rather than a real love-partner.
What an excruciatingly slow development that is! The AI does an acceptable job visualizing people and environments, with an uncanny aesthetic recalling rotoscope animation. The audio also presents no difficulties: both the characters’ voices and sound effects do their job. But the only aspect of the production real humans worked on —the script—-proves to be the worst element. Outrageously repetitive dialogues and an extensive use of the thesaurus make a telenovela seem brilliant in comparison.
The second act, mercifully shorter than the first, shouldn’t be discussed too much to avoid possible spoilers. Not that the story has tremendous reveals and twists; let’s just say that the debates regarding the moral implications of a scanning of our most profound memories and thoughts continues, with new commentary on our relationship with the unconscious.
There is material for a good “Black Mirror”-esque narrative here, but the execution is underwhelming, to say the least. Slow plot advancement and dialogue straight out of a soap opera make The Room, or even Incorporeal Man, preferable viewing options.
Baldersion has made Brainstare available for free viewing on YouTube.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:
No independent reviews found at the time of publication.
Yeah; the second act is more successful in visualization.
I believe the writer wrote this as a theatrical play originally – essentially two one-acts. The first act doesn’t gain anything; the AI stages it in close-ups/ECUs which is funny at first, then annoying.
This is even weirder than the review would have led me to believe. The decision to use AI to make what is basically a 3 character, 2 set, punishingly overlong feature film is a bizarre impulse. I got AFTER LAST SEASON vibes from this, but with a bigger vocabulary and worse acting. A disclaimer at the beginning assures us that all dialogue was written by a human being: I believe that’s true, but a human being who learned English by reading only 19th century poetry and contemporary science fiction, and who has never had an actual interaction with another person. If it’s done intentionally, to create a sense of an alien, alienated future, it’s near-genius. There are so many insanely ridiculous lines in this thing. Here are a few I jotted down:
“You are quivering like a bag of ferrets. Like a bag of quivering ferrets.”
“Is the sex pleasure you get from me unenjoyable?”
“Weeping is part of your job description.”
“Don’t take umbrage at the ogle.”
“Every day is the day of Me, for I am Mr. Me!”
“With all of the semen I spent on her, I could sire a small city!”
“You couldn’t rape your way out of a paper bag.”
Painful. Unbelievable. Misguided. Amazing.
That’s Dr. Joseph Suglia, you’re referring to, “one of the greatest literary artists in the history of literature”, as stated on his website…
https://drjosephsuglia.com/about/
A humble guy. “The film I wrote is now available: BRAINSTARE (2025). It is the greatest film ever made.”
Guess it’s time to delve into the first collaboration, WATCH OUT, done with zero AI, but same flaws…
Available free on Plex, for those curious.
https://www.dikenga.com/watchout